1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a friction resistance generator for applying discretionary resistance by frictional force to rotary movement or rectilinear movement in various kinds of machines and equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bearings or guides being so far known as one type of mechanical elements can be broadly categorized into slide bearings or slide guides which are structured to support movable members through the aid of lubricating oil and roller bearings or roller guides which are structured to support the movable members through the aid of balls or rollers. They are intended to make the movable members always move smoothly diminishing the friction resistance between mating members as small as possible. Consequently, since conventional bearings or guides are not intended to apply resistance to moving members to control the moving force, additional attenuation means such as a shock absorber or damper becomes necessary when it is necessary to control the moving speed of the movable member to a constant level.
Meanwhile, with slide bearings or slide guides using lubricating oil, although the frictional resistance can be diminished to an extremely low level if lubricating oil stays between mating members under an ideal state, under low speed movement or heavy load movement, oil film existing between the mating slide surfaces can be damaged resulting to intermittent occurrences of static friction and dynamic friction producing extremely unstable frictional force, thus tending to cause so called stick-slip phenomenon.
Like aforesaid, among conventional machine elements, although there do exist machine elements that can provide smoother rotary or rectilinear motions, such a mechanical element as is capable of controlling the movement speed to a constant level without addition of particular external structures or as is capable of producing stable and easily controllable resistance force does not exist. Therefore, there is some margin for further development work being left in this technological field for provision of discretionary frictional resistance to rotary or rectilinear motions occurring in various kinds of machines and equipment.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problems. It is therefore an object thereof to provide a mechanism of a simple structure for generating always stable and discretionary frictional resistance to rotary movement or rectilinear movement of various material bodies at any moving speeds and, moreover, for easily controlling magnitude of said frictional force by changing the load.